Drinkers move towards Low and No Alcohol options

The last few years have seen a massive shift in consumer habits with people putting much more emphasis on health, wellbeing, and balance, writes Chloe Walden. This is apparent in every aspect of people’s lives, from the way we manage our work-life balance, to what we eat, how often we workout and, of course, what we drink.

There has been a lot of noise around the rise in popularity of low or no alcoholic drinks, which is part of this wider lifestyle shift – and the drinks industry is responding to it with a plethora of new low and no alcohol drinks exploding onto the scene.

New research by our client Carlsberg UK – which FSC helped co-ordinate by designing the survey, commissioning the research and analysing the results – launched during Alcohol Awareness Week, looks specifically at how and why consumer drinking habits are changing. The results are very interesting. Many are quick to credit the ‘Millennial’ market as the fundamental driver of the trend. However, in a nation known for its love of beer, there has been a considerable step-change across multiple demographics.

Here are a few key takeaways from the research:

More than half of respondents (52%) agreed that drinking a low or no alcohol beer had become more socially acceptable in the last year or two

40% of respondents are actively trying to reduce their alcohol intake

28% of respondents would consider drinking an alcohol-free beer as an alternative to alcohol and 26% would consider it over an alternative soft drink

Men are more likely to consume low or no alcohol beers at home and females are more likely to try one on a night out. Women are also more likely to enjoy the taste of low or no alcohol

Millennials, the group identified as consuming less alcohol than previous generations, are the group most likely to enjoy the taste (70%) and the most likely to try an alcohol-free beer (24%)

So, what does this mean? Brewers are responding to the new demand for low and no alcohol options by creating great tasting drinks without the alcohol, and we’re likely to see more NPD in this area. Carlsberg globally, for example, is behind a growing collection of low and no alcohol beers including Carlsberg 0.0% and San Miguel 0.0%, and has committed to offering drinkers an alcohol-free alternative wherever its alcoholic options are sold by 2030, as part of a wider sustainability programme, Together Towards Zero.